Head to toe depth
The 2015-16 Brandon Wheat Kings are considered by most as one of the very best teams in franchise history. With this year's “Wheaties” putting in a bid for the 2026 Memorial Cup, it is a perfect time to look back at some of the most dominant teams in the Wheat Kings archives.
In that season, the Wheat Kings were probably the deepest team in the WHL. From top to bottom there was production, whether that was points, physicality, defense, or anything else the team needed. The Wheaties went through the year with the same lines every night with a few changes due to injury or IIHF/Team Canada camps.
Line 1
Nolan Patrick - Jayce Hawryluk - Tyler Coulter
Three absolute workhorses on one line turned out to be a great decision by McCrimmon. Hawryluk and Patrick had a newfound connection we have not seen since both putting up over 100 points. Hawryluk was never afraid to get into the dirty areas despite his smaller frame, while Patrick heading into Year 2 was a big body and the skill guy on the top line. Coulter rounded it out with his big frame and feistiness.
Line 2
Tim McGauley - John Quenneville - Reid Duke
The Wheaties' second line was arguably better than most teams' first over the course of the year. All three were some of the best two-way forwards in the league, but all had their own distinct playing styles. Quenneville had one of the best shots in the WHL. Pair that with both of Duke and MaGauley’s setup skills and you have the best second line in the Western Hockey league. All three also played instrumental roles on the penalty kill.
Line 3
Tanner Kaspick with Duncan Campbell and Stelio Mattheos.
The third line featured three Manitoba products. The trio wasn't expected to go out and put-up big points, but rather shut down the other team’s top guns and tire them out on a nightly basis. After being a little underappreciated through the regular season, their game really shined in the playoffs and was a huge factor in getting Brandon over the hump.
Line 4
Connor Gutenberg - Ty Lewis - Linden McCorrister
The last three were another energy/hard to play against line that featured three Manitobans. They were considered one of the toughest lines to play against in the WHL, but also could surprise you at any moment with the skill and speed they all had.
Defense Pairing 1
Ivan Provorov - Macoy Erkamps
By Game 1 of the season, Provorov and Erkamps had unbelievable chemistry and were one of the best shut down and offensive pairings in the league. Two puck movers together means the puck gets out of your end and into the other teams very often, and that's exactly what happened when these two were on the ice. Erkamps brought the gritty side of the pair earlier in the season, but it rubbed off on Provorov as he learned to be just as good of a wrecking ball.
Defense Pairing 2
Kale Clague - Mitch Wheaton
Clague took a huge step from his first season in the WHL where he only played 20 games. Pair his offensive mind with Wheaton's defense and once again you have a great pairing. Clague was able to rely on Wheaton to help with any mistakes he made because Wheaton was that good at the “defense” part of “defenseman.” Wheaton let Clague create plays with his extremely creative offensive mind while pitching in the odd point here and there.
Defense Pairing 3
James Shearer - Jordan Thomson
This is your typical shut down third pairing. Shearer was brought in from the Steinbach Pistons early in the season to fill a much-needed defensive role at the time. Shortly after the Wheat Kings acquired Thomson from the Swift Current Broncos to solidify the third pair.
Goaltending Tandem
Jordan Papirny - Logan Thompson
Papirny is the definition of consistency. Through his four full seasons in Wheat City, he never had a save percentage below .900, something very impressive for a junior goalie. Papirny is also first or second in almost every major goaltending statistic in franchise history. Behind him was now NHL all-star Logan Thompson. Thompson didn't get into many games in 2015/16 but was solid when he did.
The Wheat Kings were still in a great spot after Provorov, Mattheos, Quenneville and Hawryluk all returned from their respective junior tournaments but started the second half of the year with a 10-0 loss to Red Deer without their star players.
After the loss to the Memorial Cup hosts, the Wheat Kings woke up and won 25 of their last 33 games heading into the playoffs. The biggest reason for the success was Hawryluk after returning from a five-game suspension. He had 71 points through this span of games driving the line of himself, Patrick and Coulter.
The Wheat Kings finished the regular season with a 48-18-4-2 record and 102 points, only four away from the league-leading Victoria Royals.
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Game On's Jackson Bachewich has produced this five-part series set for release in advance of puck drop on the 2024-25 WHL season. The remaining pieces will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for the next three stories released in Game On's Memorial Cup Throwback Series.
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